1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the home maintenance process, and more particularly to a system and method for collecting and disseminating information relating to maintenance issues in a house.
2. Related Art
Homeowners take pride in the appearance of their house. Regardless of the size or type of house, they want their home to be safe and secure. Weather elements and daily life activity wear on the house. Repair and maintenance of the house is required to ensure the safety and security of the occupants.
Appliances in a house have a limited operational life and deteriorate due to repeated use. Appliances sometimes fail after extensive use for problems that if otherwise remedied, the failure could have been prevented. Unfortunately, the homeowner is usually unaware of these problems. The repair and maintenance of appliances and other equipment associated with a house is encompassed in the concept of the repair and maintenance of a house.
Many times, the potential for safety and security problems is related to the size of the house. Since the average size of a house is increasing, there are more structures and elements that require attention today than ever before.
Home repair and maintenance projects require three elements: money, knowledge, and time. The money element focuses on whether the homeowner has sufficient money to pay for the repairs. The knowledge element requires the homeowner's knowledge of a potential problem and how to repair or fix the problem. The time element has two components. First, whether the homeowner has the time to make the repairs. Second, whether the homeowner has the time to monitor the house and identify the problems that need to be repaired.
The money element usually is not the critical issue in the decision whether to make a repair to a house. Homeowners are increasingly spending more money on the repair and maintenance of their homes. Dual income households are more common today. Also, more people are able to afford to buy a house now for many reasons, including lower interest rates.
The knowledge element is an important issue in the repair and maintenance process. Some problems may be identified through visual inspection or stand-alone detectors. However, homeowners are unable to detect or predict potential problems in their home until too late.
Regarding the knowledge of how to repair problems, there ate numerous sources of reference information available today. For example, many homeowners purchase do-it-yourself books. Also, the number of households with a personal computer and are connected to the Internet has increased. Do-it-yourself solutions are also available on the Internet.
Since people are busier today than in the past, the time element is the most critical issue. People need to have time in their daily and weekly routine for relaxation. An effect of having two incomes in a household is a reduction in leisure time. Children and other activities also require time. In addition, since the average number of occupants in a house is decreasing, fewer people are available to assist with the repair and maintenance of the house.
Homes and appliances include more electronic and sophisticated devices that are not serviceable by the typical homeowner. Furthermore, the typical homeowner lacks the experience, skills, and tools to repair or maintain most items in a home.
As a result, homeowners have less time to devote to the repair and maintenance of their homes. The consequences are that homeowners are unable to detect effectively problems early in their home and unable or unwilling to repair the problems.
Another component of the repair and maintenance process is whether the house or appliance problem is covered under a warranty. Few homeowners track the warranty coverage for their house or for appliances or other equipment in their house. The quantity of information to process and retain during the course of daily life is overwhelming. Keeping track of the period of a warranty and the types of problems that are covered is not a priority. In addition, many homeowners inadvertently throw out warranty information well before the information is needed. Therefore, if a problem arises, it is difficult to determine whether the problem is covered by a warranty.
It is therefore desirable that an improved method and system for collecting and disseminating household information be provided that overcomes limitations of conventional repair and maintenance identification methods. It is also desirable that an improved method and system for coordinating repair and maintenance services and monitoring warranties be provided.